On NBC and James Comey's Indictment

How to cover a crime story, network style

NBC News just ran a 1,012-word article titled, “Former FBI Director James Comey indicted.”

Here are all the words about the substance of the charges:

The charges stem from testimony Comey gave on Sept. 30, 2020, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Asked by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about testimony he gave in 2017 asserting that he did not authorize leaking information regarding the FBI’s investigations into President Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Comey said, “I stand by the testimony.”

Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, has said that Comey authorized him to leak information to the press, according to a 2018 Justice Department inspector general’s report. But the report also found that McCabe made multiple false or misleading statements.

The rest is about politicization of the Justice system, objections to the case from within the office of Acting U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsay Halligan, Donald Trump’s social media posts, the notion that Comey has been in Trump’s crosshairs since he “launched an investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential race,” John Durham’s failure to charge Comey previously, and other matters.

NBC’s sole reference to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on “James Comey’s Unauthorized Disclosure of Sensitive Information and Handling of Certain Memoranda” concerned statements by Andrew McCabe. It did not mention sixteen other witnesses, nor the conclusion: “We have previously faulted Comey for acting unilaterally and inconsistent with Department policy. Comey’s unauthorized disclosure of sensitive law enforcement information… merits similar criticism.”

NBC does not mention the name of Columbia University professor Daniel Richman, about whom recently released FBI memos disclosed: “Comey instructed the FBI to hire Richman as a Special Government Employee (SGE)” and “grant him a Top Secret clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information” in 2015, so he could “discuss sensitive matters, including classified information, with someone outside of the FBI’s regular leadership.”

Finally, NBC also does not mention the name Michael Schmidt, the New York Times reporter who used Richman as a source in stories describing Comey as “apolitical and independent.”

Schmidt is the husband of MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace.